Chuck Harrison

Charles William Harrison

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 5' 10", Weight 190 lb.
• School Texas Tech University
• High School Abilene (TX) High School
• Debut September 15, 1965
• Final Game September 25, 1971
• Born April 25, 1941 in Abilene, TX USA
• Died December 30, 2023 in Abilene, TX USA

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Biographical Information

Chuck Harrison played five seasons in the majors, getting over 1,000 at-bats. He was part of the Houston Astros youth movement in the 1960s.

Harrison was the first major leaguer to come from Texas Tech University. Born in Abilene, TX, he was a home-state boy who made the major league team with the Astros in 1965. Walt Bond had been the regular first baseman in 1964 and for most of 1965 but Harrison became the regular in 1966 while Bond was traded to the Minnesota Twins. Harrison was a year older than teammate Jimmy Wynn and three years older than Joe Morgan and Rusty Staub.

In 1967 Harrison backed up veteran Eddie Mathews at first base, getting into 415 innings at the position while Mathews had 602. After the season, he was traded to the Atlanta Braves in a trade that involved Sonny Jackson, Denny Lemaster and Denis Menke, and was then purchased by the Kansas City Royals from Atlanta a year later.

In 1969, the Royals' first season as a major league team, he appeared in 458 innings at first base while Mike Fiore was there for 784 innings. Two years later, in 1971, he, Gail Hopkins and Bob Oliver all had at least 300 innings for the Royals.

Harrison was a notable minor league slugger, beginning his minor league career in 1963. He had 40 home runs for the San Antonio Bullets in 1964 and followed up with 34 for the Oklahoma City 89ers in 1965. In 1968 he hit 25 home runs for the Richmond Braves, while in 1970 he hit 21 for the Omaha Royals in 109 games. In 1971 with Omaha he hit .369 with 14 home runs in only 48 games and had a slugging percentage of .710.

Harrison's nephew, Rusty Hamric, was a 2B in the Philadelphia Phillies chain.